Climate Change = Feeding Woes?

[ChiliCat]

Well, normally I haven’t had problems feeding my adult ball python Delilah. No problems at all. Lately though I have had a really time feeding her. She is rejecting her frozen feeder rats, which she’s always eaten no problem before. She had rejected 1 rat, 1 mouse the past week and she hasn’t eaten in 3 weeks. She just got finished with a shed earlier in the week. Also, its winter now so its been getting colder, I've been bumping up the humidity both in the change, but I got a humidifer in my bedroom (where she is).

Is there anything I can do or try? Just wait another week? She’s always eaten frozen. I’m not really in the current position to give her live as I’m out in the stix.

[kavmon]

double check your temps!! keep the hot end 90-94 and the cool end around 80. this can be harder in the winter to do. if she was eating f/t rats before , she'll eat them again. don't switch the food items alot. maybe try feeding her every 2 weeks until she starts again. balls can go weeks or months without food and be ok. (assuming she is healthy to begin with) the temps are the key!!!



vaughn

[elevatethis]

Like Vaughn said, don't switch it up on them unless you absolutely have to. They get confused

But really, you're in MD? There's been a few warm/cold fronts come through and they are all over the pressure changes and know that summer is over. Some balls will get picky around this time....

[ChiliCat]

I have a humidity reader and a temp gun that I've used to make sure the temps and humidity are alright, almost anally so. Even my thermostat is set at 68, and I have a humidifer in my room so its not that her surrounding environment is too cold or dry. She has eaten every 10 days-2 weeks a medium thawed out rat, no problems. I'm really not doing anything different, I thaw them just the same as always. She is a perfectly healthy adult bp female, 5 years old. She was a rescue snake and now she's just fine. I waited to feed her after a shed too. Also, I believe that she was fed live under her old owners, but over the past few months she has always eaten her frozens...I'm just quite puzzled.

I'm going to get an AP racking system soon. I just need to wait for come critters to get out of quarantine.

I can't really do much about the pressure changes unless I put her in a sealed vaccum pack cage

[jotay]

If you have checked and rechecked your temps and humidity and they are within the ranges others have posted above and stay steady, the bp is healthy and no mites etc then just keep it that way and wait about 2 weeks and try again. If your temps and humidity are correct and your snake is healthy then your bp will eat when it's ready.
Mine goes off feed every fall/winter for about 6-7 mos. then goes back to eating like a piggy. My temps and humidity stays steady as a rock, doesn't matter, it's just what he does.

[Adam_Wysocki]

I'm really not doing anything different

Probably not, but ball pythons are sensitive enough to detect minute changes in temps that human beings don't even notice ... bump your temps ... some people use small oil filled heaters in front of their snake cages in the winter ... "glass" from a glass tank can hold a chill for sure in the winter.

You also might want to check your light cycle ... the shortened daylight of winter can throw a ball python off ... sometimes a lamp on a timer somewhere in the room with the snake can work wonders.

-adam

[jotay]

Probably not, but ball pythons are sensitive enough to detect minute changes in temps that human beings don't even notice ... bump your temps ... some people use small oil filled heaters in front of their snake cages in the winter ... "glass" from a glass tank can hold a chill for sure in the winter.

You also might want to check your light cycle ... the shortened daylight of winter can throw a ball python off ... sometimes a lamp on a timer somewhere in the room with the snake can work wonders.

-adam

Glad I saw you post that, Adam. I had read that during the spring and have been doing that this year in hopes of keeping Ozzy from going off feed.
So far so good. ( reference to the light cycle)

[tmlowe5704]

I recently bought a small ceramic heater from wal-mart to heat my room a bit. My temps dropped nearly 10* one night and I bought the heater the next night and all is well. It makes things a bit more uncomfortable in my room, but hey, my snakes are happy and healthy!